Aesthetic qualities

The aesthetic qualities are some of the properties that make an object valuable, particularly a work of art.

These qualities refer to outward appearance from the Greek aisthetikós meaning "perceivable" or "observable by the senses"). The literature on aesthetic qualities distinguishes between sensory, formal and vital qualities.

• The sensory qualities are the properties that make an object pleasing to the senses. For example, the texture of a fabric, the colors of a painting, the brightness of a sculpture or the musical bell of a musical instrument, contemplated outside any other consideration, are sensory qualities. The appreciation of these qualities allows the contemplator to judge the value of the works of art by applying a simple (and debatable) criterion: if a work produces pleasure it is better than an unpleasant work.

The formal qualities refer to the way in which the different elements that compose it are combined in the same artistic object. Thus, in a poem, the words in each of the sentences and each sentence in the poem as a whole. In a painting, the contrasts between the figures (if any) and the background. In a musical composition the combination of sounds and silences and their temporal development. It is often said that a wise combination of order and surprise, or of unity and variety, are positive formal qualities that characterize good works of art.

Finally, the vital qualities refer to the ideas, feelings or experiences that a work of art transmits. These are not properties that can be "physically"located; in the work, but are conveyed by it. In general, works capable of suggesting more meanings to the viewer are considered to be more valuable than works that only offer a flat and obvious reading.

Obviously, the appreciation of the aesthetic qualities of an artistic object depends on at least two factors: first, the qualities must be present in the object; second, the viewer must be able to recognize them.

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